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12-Year-Old Calvert County Boy's Largemouth Bass Catch Sets Md. Record

HUNTINGTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A 12-year-old Calvert County boy's catch of an 11-pound, 6-ounce largemouth bass in a farm pond has set a new Maryland record.

Colton Lambert of Huntingtown made the catch in his hometown on a summer evening, July 31. The fish was weighed the next day at a tackle shop in Chesapeake Beach and authenticated by a state fisheries biologist.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced last week that the fish was 4 ounces heavier than the previous state record for a largemouth bass set nearly 30 years ago. The catch was made with a plastic worm using a spinning rod loaded with an 8-pound test line, rigged weedless, without a weight, the agency said.

Lambert was fishing with his father and younger brother when he thought his line was caught on something.

"All of a sudden, something started to move very quickly and broke the surface and took off, peeling line off the reel," he said in a state news release. "It was really hard to control and reel in; when I finally slid it up on the shallow bank, my dad started getting all excited."

George Klein, the owner of Tyler's Tackle shop, weighed the catch on his state-certified scale.

"It was a beautiful fish, I can tell you that," Klein said.

The fish measured 26 inches long and 18 inches around.

Lambert will be honored Saturday at a seafood festival at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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